Graduated BFU lawyers have the most serious realization

Law graduates from Burgas Free University (BFU) have been declared the most successful professionals in the country's judicial system. This is according to data from the report "Legal Education and Personnel Policy in the Judiciary - Analysis of Educational Trends Among Managers" prepared by the Institute for Market Economics (IME), with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

The data in the report show that 13% of the leading personnel in the judicial system graduated from the Bulgarian University of Law, followed by graduates of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (SU), who are 34%. Considering that the number of graduates of this specialty at the oldest higher education institution is much higher and the fact that the experience in the system of those occupying these positions is often over 25 years (approaching the first classes of the Bulgarian State University), this is tantamount to a leading position for the Burgas Free University. Apart from the graduates of the Bulgarian State University and the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (which has not been in the system of training in the specialty "Law" for many years), only three other higher education institutions have graduated members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), and the BSU has the largest share of the three (a total of 10% of the members of the SJC). In its report, the IME uses publicly available registers and databases of official institutions. The total number of judges and senior staff among them is derived from the List of Acting Judges pursuant to Art. 29 e, para. 1 of the JSA and Art. 5 of the Rules for Conducting Elections of Members of the Supreme Judicial Council by Judges, Prosecutors and Investigators.

By a decision of the Grand National Assembly of September 18, 1991, BSU is among the first three higher education institutions established after the changes in our country and historically the first with the status of a university in Eastern Bulgaria. The university is also the first in Eastern Bulgaria with a recognized specialty "Law". Proof of the serious preparation is the practice of graduates of the specialty "Law" at BSU appearing and winning with the highest results competitions in the judicial system with dozens, and sometimes hundreds of candidates for one place.

Some of the other data in the IME report are sampled - according to indicators in the Rating System of Higher Education Institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria (RSVURB), administered by the Ministry of Education and Science. According to the most important indicators for the training of personnel, BSU is invariably among the top three higher education institutions in the professional field of "Law". It is in first place according to the indicator "Satisfaction with the learning environment", and in second place - after the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) according to the combination of criteria - "Intensity of teaching", "Significance of the learning process for teachers" and "Exclusivity of the teaching staff".

According to a group of ten indicators (including "Ratio to social security income for the region", "Regional realization of a higher education position", "Unemployment among graduates compared to the average for the region", "Regional significance", etc.), concerning realization on the labor market and regional significance, BSU is in second place (with a 1-point difference) after New Bulgarian University. The use of the indicator "Unemployment among graduates" for the professional field "Law", where the realization of a large part of the personnel is in liberal professions, is not relevant for comparison, but even if the 3.9% found in the RSVURB are taken into account - for the BSU graduates, they amount to less than 2 people.

According to the indicators "International Mobility" and "Opportunities for International Mobility" of law students, BSU is in third place in 2024 - the year in which the Dean Prof. Dr. Maria Neykova and the Deputy Dean of the Center for Legal Sciences Assoc. Prof. Dr. Slavka Dimitrova carried out teaching mobility at the largest higher education institution on the continent - the University of South Africa. It is no coincidence that the director of the international department of the Arbitration Court of African Countries is among our first class of lawyers at BSU. In 2024, BSU was among the founders of the European University of Ports, Islands and Coastal Territories - an alliance of higher education institutions from 12 countries, approved under the EU's Erasmus+ program.

The management of Burgas Free University is proud of its graduates, lecturers and current Law students and wishes them success in the justice system, the legal profession, law enforcement agencies, public administration, private business and education!